The tallest tale
Standing 7’11”, Anna Swan was star of Barnum’s famous circus
was billed as the Biggest Modern Woman Of The World.
And now the fascinating story of a Scottish giantess – a star in PT Barnum’s circus – is to be made into a big-budget TV series.
It’s being adapted by the makers of BBC3 series Orphan Black from a novel about the life of 7 feet 11 inches tall Anna Swan.
The series follows the bigscreen success of The Greatest Showman, the hit musical about the life of circus promotor PT Barnum.
The series is being adapted from a book called by Canadian writer Susan Swan that tells the story of how Anna became more than just a sideshow exhibit – she was also a highly educated and elegant Victorian lady who longed to start a family.
“Anna was called the Biggest Modern Woman, as she really was a modern woman. She was one of the first career women, who tried to have it all – a job and a family,” explained Susan.
“Her mother and father came to Nova Scotia from Dumfries in the 1830s, and Anna was born in 1846.
“She died in 1888 and in that time had quite a life for someone who didn’t live very long.”
It was a life that took Anna from poverty in the small town where her parents emigrated, to the New York with PT Barnum, and then around the royal courts of Europe.
“She was a real showbusiness success,” added Susan. “When she was a child, she had to sit on the floor while she and her siblings ate their crowdie, so her head would be level with theirs.
“By the time she was an adult she weighed 418lbs, and it was said that when she entered the room, the
‘
Anna was a modern woman who tried to have it all
sweep of her Victorian skirts could sweep a man off his chair.”
Anna’s extraordinary growth came from a tumour in her pituitary gland and was tall even as a child. Her height made her well-known in her neighbourhood and caught the attention of the greatest showman himself – Phineas T Barnum. “Barnum wanted her for his show but Anna’s parents were good Scottish Presbyterians and they thought he was basically the Devil,” said Susan.
“She instead went to teacher’s college but that didn’t work as children followed her home from school to poke fun at her.
“Barnum’s offer was reconsidered